Romney: Road-Tested

UPDATE: New Romney ad up in Florida: Conservative Change:

The Dow was down this morning, but looks to be bouncing back from the lows, as the Fed cut rates dramatically. Economic uncertainty is on voters' minds. On the road with Mitt Romney, Jeremy Lott, The American Spectator:

Many conservatives focused on the collective-planning implications of Romney saying that as president he would work with automakers to try to help solve their problems. Human Events editor Jed Babbin called it a "Khrushchev-style five year plan for Detroit."

But as the Competitive Enterprise Institute's John Berlau has shown, there was a whole lot more to his campaign. Romney did talk up some dubious proposals in Michigan. He also attacked regulation and environmental legislation, including too-strict CAFE standards and cap-and-trade mandates.

In effect, he told Michigan that government was the problem and he'd try to make it less of a problem.

And a look at what worked with voters in Michigan. John Berlau:

"When we send...a Ford Mustang overseas, it's not just loaded with accessories," he explained to the audience at the Detroit Economic Club. "It's loaded with our excessive healthcare costs, our excessive regulatory burdens, our excessive legal liability burden, and the taxes paid by every single automotive supplier to help put product into that car. You take off those burdens, and let's show them how fast a Mustang will actually go!"

With this anti-regulation message, Romney won males, females, Protestants, Catholics, all levels of education from high-school dropouts to postgraduates, and all income groups above $30,000.

Mitt Romney, in touch with voters. Romney's road-tested:) in the private and public sector, turning around failing businesses and fixing government. He's the guy who can get America back on the road to prosperity again.

UPDATE: Some insight from Planet Gore. And Blue State Michigan denies illegal immigrants licenses.

UPDATE: WSJ: We need measures for longterm growth.

UPDATE: Fred Barnes on what McCain needs to do to convince the right he's learned. (Bending a knee at Rush's Palm Beach place?) And Robert Tracinski raises this: "if John McCain saves Republicans, who will save Republicans from John McCain?"

UPDATE: Conservatives in Congress shut out of the economic debate. The Politico.

UPDATE: Jonathan Martin: Mitt's not-so-black Tuesday. It starts out this way:

If Mitt Romney wins Florida next week and ultimately the GOP nomination, today will be looked back upon as a crucial turning point.

For three major reasons, Romney is enjoying a super Tuesday of his own.

First, the anticipated drop of the stock market is taking place. As of just before 10, the Dow was down about 300 points. This will exacerbate fears of a full-fledged meltdown and spur that many more IRA-holding Floridians to vote their pocketbook.

UPDATE: Huckabee is broke. (So is his message)

Related posts: Rudy Joins the Fray, Joe Unloads: MSM Bias Against Mitt, In Search of Sunshine